It’s Time to Get Your Fight Back!

1 Timothy 6:12 NKJV

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

“FIGHT”

We are engaged in a war.

It is a war between light and darkness, good and evil, right and wrong, truth and the lie, and the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.

1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV) “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

Ephesians 6:10–13 (NKJV) “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

This war is composed of multiple battles.

Battles determine whether we take ground, hold ground, or lose ground.

Individual battles determine the course of the war.

These battles are composed multiple individual fights.

Each soldier is engaged in their own “fight” on the battlefield.

These individual “fights” together determine the course of the battle.

The course of the battle determines the course of the war.

The course of the war determines defeat or victory.

How are you doing in YOUR fight?

“GOOD” FIGHT

“Good” by virtue of its Commander

He is the King of Glory, the LORD of hosts (LORD of Armies)

Psalm 24:7–10 (NKJV) “Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. 10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah”

“Good” by virtue of its Calling

We are called to be soldiers in God’s army

2 Timothy 2:4 (NKJV) “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”

“Good” by virtue of its Commission

Matthew 28:18–20 (NKJV) “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”

Our assignment: Conversion and Discipleship

To deliver souls out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

To deliver souls from the devil’s lies and liberate them with God’s Truth.

“Good” by virtue of its Character

We use good to defeat evil

Romans 12:17–21 (NKJV) “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. 20 Therefore ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

We use the word of God to defeat the devil’s lies

2 Timothy 2:5 (NKJV) “And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.”

We use spiritual weapons to overcome natural and demonic weapons

2 Corinthians 10:3–5 (NKJV) “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”

“Good” by virtue of its Commitment

We must accept and endure the hardships of the fight with courage

2 Timothy 2:3–4 (NKJV) “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”

We are to be committed to the battles that face our generation

“Good” by virtue of its Courage

Joshua 1:3–6 (NKJV) “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.”

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to face fear head on and do what is right, to do what is needed.

Martin Luther: “I was born to fight devils and factions. It is my business to remove obstructions, to cut down thorns, to fill up quagmires, and to open and make straight paths. But if I must have some failing let me rather speak the truth with too much severity than once to act the hypocrite and conceal the truth.”

Martin Luther: “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved and to be steady on all the battle front besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”

“Good” by virtue of its Crown

The “good fight” is the one we WIN!

2 Timothy 4:7–8 (NKJV) “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

GOOD FIGHT OF “FAITH”

We are overcomers by virtue of our Conversion

As children of God, we have the DNA of an overcomer!

1 John 5:4 (NKJV) “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world—our faith.”

1 John 5:5 (NKJV) “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Romans 8:37 (NKJV) “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

1 Corinthians 15:57 (NKJV) “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We are overcomers because we fight until we overcome!

We are overcomers by virtue of the Overcomer who lives inside of us

John 16:33 (NKJV) “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

1 John 4:4 (NKJV) “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

Since Jesus has overcome the world, we will overcome if we do not quit!

We are overcomers because the LORD fights our battles

1 Samuel 17:45–47 (NKJV) “Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.’”

2 Samuel 23:11–12 (NKJV) “And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.”

Shammah had had enough. He was leaving this lentil patch the last time. He committed himself to the battle, and positioned himself for victory.

He engaged the enemy threat. He fought and eliminated the enemy threat.

Proverbs 21:31 (NKJV) “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord.”

We are overcomers because of our faith in God

Hebrews 11:30–34 (NKJV) “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. 32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

RESPONSE TO THE WORD

The war is real. The battle is raging. The stakes are all high. Will you run? Will you hide? Will you disengage? Will you quit? Or…will you FIGHT?

We are on the winning side, but victory is only assured if we trust God and FIGHT!

Are you ready to say, “Enough is enough! I am not laying down and letting the devil run over me anymore! I will not run! I will not hide! I will not disengage! I will not quit! I am getting up and suiting up in God’s armor. I am picking up my sword—God’s word—and the shield of faith. I am an overcomer through Jesus Christ. I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus! I am engaging the enemy of my soul in battle. I’m getting my FIGHT back! I will win my fight. We will win our battle. Jesus Christ has already won the war!”

It’s time to get your FIGHT back!

It’s time to say, “I’m going to see a VICTORY, for the battle belongs to the LORD!”